


homesick

by sharkman4000



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Anxiety, College, Homesickness, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Sharing a Bed, comforting Rhett, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-27 13:50:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20047093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sharkman4000/pseuds/sharkman4000
Summary: Link has a good ol' middle of the night breakdown during his first semester at college. Rhett comforts him.





	homesick

**Author's Note:**

> Forgive the lameass title but it gets the job done!
> 
> Sudden burst of late night inspiration, love short, feel-good stories, (and fics that deal with anxiety) so here this is. 
> 
> Enjoy !
> 
> \- ryan

Link had been tossing and turning for what felt like ages. He looked over at his alarm clock for the third time in the last minute and it still blinked out the same number; three twenty-four. He and Rhett had stayed up later than normal finishing up a project for intro engineering, but that was hours ago. Rhett had crashed right away but Link was stuck suffering in the top bunk. 

Link felt homesick.

He expected this, but not this far into the semester. For Christ's sake, Thanksgiving break was just around the corner. Everything had gone smoothly so far but for whatever reason tonight he felt _off_. Link’s heart was racing, he couldn’t get comfortable, and it was pissing him off.

Freakin’ twin beds were just barely long enough for him, but with the massive amount of pillows he liked to sleep with his feet always dangled off the edge anyways. Rhett had called dibs on the bottom bunk as soon as they moved in, immediately fashioning a footrest at the end of his bed to accommodate his much longer legs. Link was outta luck. He let out a heavy breath and clutched at one of his pillows.

That usually helped. Not tonight.

He didn’t even notice he had started crying until he buried his face in his pillow and felt the dampness there. Link was supposed to be an adult, but here he was, crying like a little kid in the middle of the night. Over nothing. He had been fine the last two months, and nothing had changed before tonight.

His thoughts kept cycling endlessly between random memories: his mom’s cooking, driving to see Rhett’s basketball games every week, the two of them sitting on the bed of Link’s truck afterwards watching the stars, swimming in the river, making stupid videos on the camera Link got for his sixteenth birthday, driving nowhere for miles belting out country classics, he felt like he would never feel that fearless again, sitting side by side with Rhett daydreaming about the great movies they were gonna make together. 

(Of course this was before the whole “engineering school talk” that led them to where they were now, camera sitting in one of Link’s drawers gathering dust.)

Link let out an unexpected sob but quickly tried to muffle it in the pillow he had wrapped his arms around, curling into the fetal position. An overwhelming wave of frustration and helplessness rushed over him and he felt like he was drowning in this sudden anxiety. He was crying harder now, body shaking like he was stuck outside in the cold.

“Link?”

He ignored Rhett’s whisper and shuffled closer to the wall as if the white bricks would magically quiet his sobs and make Rhett go back to sleep. A couple seconds passed before Rhett spoke up again.

“Bo?” Rhett spoke more softly this time and lightly placed his hand on Link’s shoulder. He could feel how shaky Link was and how shallow his breaths were. “You okay?” 

He sounded so sweet and soft and tender and that just ripped Link apart even further. He shook his head, still facing away from Rhett.

“I’m coming up there, hang on.” Link started to protest but no words came out. 

When they were young they used to sleep in the same bed pretty often. They hadn’t done it since middle school, when Rhett’s dad had walked in on them during a sleepover. He gave some sort of talk to Rhett after that and things were a little weird for a while. They hadn’t shared a bed since.

Now, Rhett had somehow managed to fit himself between Link and the wall and he gently took the pillow from Link’s arms. After he moved it Link started to curl further in on himself but Rhett grabbed his wrists.

“Stop, just stop it, man. C’mere.” With those words Rhett scooted forward and put Link’s left arm over his stomach - his bare stomach, he noticed. Link was still sobbing and shaking but he stayed awkwardly stiff, his only point of contact with Rhett that one arm.

Rhett just pulled him closer and wrapped his long arms around Link’s waist, almost pulling Link on top of him. They were touching from their chests all the way down to their ankles. It only took a moment before Link smashed his face into the crook of Rhett’s neck, dampening it with wet sobs. One of Rhett’s hands came up to cradle the back of Link’s head, lightly scratching his scalp and smoothing down his hair. Rhett maneuvered Link’s soft comforter up to cover both of them.

God, Rhett was warm. 

Link didn’t know how long it took for his sobs to quiet down, but Rhett rubbed his back the entire time. Eventually Link’s arms made their way around Rhett’s chest, which was a more than adequate replacement for his pillow from earlier. It had been so long since Link had been held like this, and Rhett made him feel small.

“Your back is gonna be sore,” Link murmured, not even sure if Rhett could hear him. A twin bed wasn’t built for Rhett even without Link there too.

“Don’t worry about my back, don’t worry about class tomorrow, just sleep, bo.” He could have sworn that Rhett had nuzzled the top of his head a little, but all the crying had taken its toll and he felt exhaustion taking over. He knew they’d definitely have to talk about this whole situation later, but for now, Rhett’s comfort was all he cared about.

In Rhett’s arms, Link felt safe.

He fell asleep within a couple minutes.

**Author's Note:**

> : 0


End file.
